A while ago, I mentioned a video of 7 historic performances of the Chopin Butterfly Etude in chronological order. Via @intrepidimages, here are 9 more performances of the Chopin Etude Opus 25 #9 by the following pianists:
1. Vladimir Ashkenazy
2. Wilhelm Backhaus
3. Idil Biret
4. Vladimir Horowitz
5. Not sure - any guesses? (Update: Phillipe Cassard - thanks Anonymous!)
6. Murray Perahia
7. Maurizio Pollini
8. Leonard Bernstein
9. Grigorij Sokolov
Sheldon Cooper?
ReplyDeleteAshkenazy -- lovely, perhaps a bit stiff.
ReplyDeleteBackhaus -- nice flair, maybe too crazy
Biret -- wow, too plodding. makes the etude truly sound like an *exercise*
Horowitz -- ooh, lovely shading right from the start, sparkling tone
unknown -- not bad, just a bit note-y
Perahia -- lush, thick rather than light and sparkly, a definite contrast with the others
Pollini -- light, but too homogenous
Bernstein -- also nice and light, maybe a bit too non-homogenous
Sokolov -- sparkly! expressive surprises without sounding random.
Okay, no surprise that Horowitz is one of my favourites, and I like Perahia's different interpretation as well (although I'm not convinced of its, um, authenticity, I have to confess I like it. Chopin as Brahms. Heh.) But I've never heard of Sokolov, what rock have I been hiding under? I think that one wins!!
2. Wilhelm Backhaus :)
ReplyDeleteThank you!
5 = Philippe Cassard (with his teacher Nikita Magaloff)
ReplyDeleteThanks!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting article. I like the blog too.
ReplyDeleteSokolov above all!!!
ReplyDeleteThis compilation is (almost) inspiring me to get back into practising the old classic. Thanks for posting it!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the Butterfly Etude is annoying in that I need at least 30-45 minutes warmup before even vaguely approaching acceptable fluency in the right hand... mostly due to a stubborn repeating thumb. And then left-hand accuracy is a separate thing. Sigh!
Such are the challenges of the Chopin etudes...
ReplyDeleteNowadays, we all know who was Chopin's and admire his music, but a big question arises all the time.And nice video!
ReplyDeleteChopin Etudes